William gray



(No Model.)

W. GRAY.

. 'com GONTRQLLBD TELEPHONE PAY STATION. l No. 598,610. Patented Feb. 8, 1898.

dWILLIAM GRAY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE GRAY AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE PAY STATION COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

COIN-CONTROLLED TELEPHONE FAYHSTAA''ION.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,610, dated February 8, 1898.

Application filed December 4, 1895. Serial No. 571,003. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GRAY, a cit-izen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone Pay-Stations,of which the following is a full,clear,and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates tothe class of devices which are used in connection with a set of telephone instruments to provide means by which the operator at the central office may be notified of the prepayment of the required toll through the medium of a signal made by the customer in the payment of the toll.

This invention relates more particularly to that special class of signal devices for telephone-stations which are what may be termed mechanical and which do not depend upon any supplemental or additional electric circuit by means of which the notice of the payment of a toll is communicated to the central office.

The object of my invention is to provide a telephone pay-station which shall be simple and compact in construction and effective in operation; and to this end my invention consists in the details of the several parts making up the device as a whole and in the combination of the parts, substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.`

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a View in front elevation of a set of telephone instruments and my improved toll-box connected therewith. Fig. 2 is a detail rear View, on an enlarged scale, of the cover of the tollboX. Fig. 3 is a detail View, in vertical section, through the toll-box. Fig. 4 is a detail view, in horizontal section, through the tollbox and a plan View of the transmitter-arm and the coil-box.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the backboard of a set of telephone instruments; b, the magneto signal-box; c, the battery-box; cl, the telephone; e, the coilbox; f, the transmitter-arm, and g the transmitter, all of the several parts being wired up and connected in the usual manner. The coil-box as usually made is an oblong semicylindrical casing of cast-iron, provided with projecting lugs e', to which the transmitterarm is pivotally connected, the boX being hollow and containing the coil.

My improved toll-box is preferably of cast metal of any desired shape and is secured in place in such manner as to make a close contact between the parts of the coil-box and the toll-box, so that a vibration in the one may be communicated to the wall of the other. This toll-box 7L, when made separate from the coil-box, is secured, as by means of screws, with its surface in contact with the coil-box or an integral part thereof, care being` taken that no non-conductor of vibration shall be interposed between the contact surfaces. When the parts are so arranged, the vibration established in the wall of the toll-box is oommunicated through the wall of the coil-box and then to the transmitter so clearly as to enable any peculiar sound, as of a musical note or of a sharp sound intended for a signal, to be quickly conducted to the transmitter, the result being that the sound is clearly heard at the central office over the ordinary line.

The toll-box h, as illustrated herein, consists of a base z', having an overhanging part j, through which is formed a coin-slot j. The baserl supports the coin-chute 7u and signal device Z, secured to posts 7o and Z', respectively, the opening in the coinchute at its upper end registering with the coin-slot in the projection j. Any number of coin-chutes and signal devices may be used for varying the signals sent when the toll-box is to be used in connection with instruments intended for different grades of service and where different amounts are required to be paidl for such service. Vhen a toll-box is used separate from the coil-box, it is placed with its base t' resting snugly against the coil-box, and a web e2 may be made integral with the coilbox and project outward to touch the base of the toll-box, the meeting edges of the two parts being so formed as to accurately fit each with the other. A cover m is removably secured to the base t' and is provided with a lock n, located near the upper edge in a position to engage the projection j from the base. This cover is preferably semicylindrical in` form, the outer edges lying closely against IOO the base t', and that portion forming the bottom Wall of the cover has an upward-extending flange o, forming a pocket into which the coinsdrop and from which they are easily taken when the cover is removed. A partition p extends across the recess or pocket and serves the purpose of protecting the signal device by preventing the coins from falling and resting against the signal device.

In nearly all of the sets of telephone apparatus in use at present the transmitter is borne on an arm vertically adjustable to adapt the position of the transmitter to varying heights to suit the convenience of users of the instrument, and the transmitter-arm is of varying lengths, usually pivoted to ahollow base,with in which the coil is located.

It is not essential to my invention that the base to which the transmitter is attached shall be a coil-box or that it shall serve any other function than as a support for the transmitter, and by the term transmitter-base, as used in the following claims, I mean to refer to that part to which the transmitter is attached Without regard to any other and additional uses to which the base may be put in the assembling or arrangement of the parts necessary to make up the set of instruments, Whether it be a wall set or a desk set.

My invention contemplates the combination of the signal-box and the transmittersupport and the close contact of these parts without regard to the particular construction of the part which immediately supports the transmitter, and it is evident that my invention may be embodied in various forms and combinations of parts without the use of more than ordinary skill in the changes made from the preferred form in two separate pieces in close contact, shown in the accompanying drawings herein.

By the use of my improved apparatus an extremely effective and simple device is provided by means of which the toll paid for the use of the telephone may be determined with certainty and accuracy, and it further provides a device from which the coins may be easily and quickly removed without danger of injury to the working partsof the apparatus.

I claim as my inventionl. In a telephone toll apparatus, in combination with a transmitter base or support of metal,a transmitter pivoted to the support, a metallic signal-box having its wall secured in close contact with the transmitter-base, a signal-sounding device located within the box, and the coin-channel registering with the coin -slot through the wall of the boX.

2. In combination with a transmitter and its supporting base-piece, a sectional toll-box with one part secured in contact withthe transmitter-base, a signal device rigidly supported o n the wall of the toll-box, and a cover containing a money-pocket and removably secured to the fixed part of the toll-box.

3. In a telephone toll apparatus, in combination, a coil-box having a metallic base, a transmitter mounted on the coil-box, a tollboX secured to the metallic base of the coilbox, a signal-sounding device located Within the box and mounted on the wall thereof.

L1. In combination in a toll-box for telephone pay-stations, the iXed base-section, a signal device and coin-chute supported on the base-section and registering with a coin-slot, a projection on the base-section with a coinslot in the projection, and a removable section underlying the projection and bearing a money-pocket, and means for locking the two sections of the toll-box.

5. In combination with the base-piece of a telephone toll-box, a coin-chute and signalbOX.

WILLIAM GRAY. Witnesses:

CHAs. L. BURDETT, ARTHUR B. J ENKINs. 

